An immortal war has been brewing in the darkness … and now one woman has stumbled into the shadows. — Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a wo... more »rld she’s only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master Vampire who thought he’d seen it all. Then Kira appears -- this fearless, beautiful … human who braved death to rescue him. Though he burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life, yet sending her away is unthinkable.

But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose between the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.« less

Top Member Book Reviews

Kira Graceling is walking home when she hears a moan coming from a supposedly abandoned warehouse. Knowing someone is in trouble and that the police will take too long to get there, she gathers her courage and enters the warehouse to find a man being tortured. Master Vampire Mencheres has been longing for death since his visions have gone dark. He welcomes this attack by ghouls as a way out of this life. But, he is shocked when a human comes to his rescue. And when the ghouls turn on Kira, Mencheres saves her and takes her to his home to recover. While staying with Mencheres, Kira learns that another vampire wants him dead so he can inherit the powers that were gifted to him by their sire. His enemy has been unsuccessful so far, but sees Mencheres feelings for Kira and knows she will be a useful tool in the power struggle.

Mencheres has always been an enigma and never a favorite of mine in the Night Huntress series. But we find out about his background and what makes him tick. He feels responsible for the awful things that wife did before she was killed. Kira is strong minded and independent. She isn't intimidated by Mencheres or his vampire friends. I liked both of these characters very much. I was also happy to see Cat, Bones & Vlad make an appearance in this book. My rating: 4.5 Stars.

This book turned out to be quite the surprise. In a good way. Mencheres has been a central character through the entire Night Huntress series and yet I didnt seem have much interest in him. He always seemed to be brooding and even a little dull and mopey. In Destined For An Early Grave, there was a slight glimpse and hint of Mencheres ability to demonstrate quick wit and snappy dialogue. Im happy I didnt write him off as too dull or boring because I would have missed this story and that would have been regrettable. Those of us who have been fans of Ms. Frosts books from the beginning know Mencheres to be quite eccentric and a little hard to warm up to. In his words, hes older than dirt and has seen a lot of pain and suffering and endured quite a bit of his own as well. If you enjoy tortured characters carrying around scads of emotional baggage, you cant go wrong with Mencheres. Hes used to people using him, hurting him, betraying him and even trying to kill him. Hes not used to a complete stranger endangering her own life trying to help him.

Kira is carrying her own baggage. Bad relationships, sick sister, loser brother, the list goes on. What I really liked about her is shes a fighter. When shes down, she refuses to stay down. She stands up to an abusive husband and picks her life up and moves forward. She doesnt needlessly throw herself into stupid situations but when she sees a man being attacked, she doesnt think twice about trying to help even though it nearly costs her own life. Unfortunately, she has seen too much and finds herself being kept somewhat of a prisoner until Mencheres can erase her memory about what she has seen.

I really loved this story because up until this book, Mencheres has been a character that I havent been able to relate to or connect with. His presence never seemed to carry the story anywhere or provide any interesting moments though he has always been a central character. With this book, Mencheres is revealed as a force to be reckoned with. He starts out as the same brooding and moping character as before, but quickly shows a completely new side to his personality that I never knew existed. Now I see a compassionate character that is protective and caring. He is a strong character with powers beyond imagining but has immense wisdom. Its like the old Mencheres that I was seeing in previous books had died and was reborn into a completely different character.

Im looking forward to where this series will take me next. Now that Mencheres is no longer the boring wet blanket I thought him to previously be, I would love to see a spin off book for Vlad, Ian and Tate.

Honestly the only reason I read this immediately following its lackluster (IMO) predecessor First Drop of Crimson was because it was the only unread audiobook left on my Ipod. Me riding home with only my thoughts for company is never a good thing.

Kira is a private investigator who hears a scuffle and walks in on a man on the brink of being slain by . . . ghouls. Not hoodlums dressed as ghouls but genuine, flesh-eating ghouls. Now if this were me Id shriek like a girl and beat it but shes much tougher than me and tries to save the man. He is gorgeous, so I guess you cant blame her. She ends up getting herself cut up pretty bad and the lovely, pale, long haired man manages to behead the ghouls without breaking a sweat. If you havent guessed already, hes a vampire and being the noble vampire that he is, gives her a big dose of his healing vampire blood because he feels bad that she injured herself trying to save him. I found this all very sweet and fun but did have to wonder why the ghouls held him in such a precarious position in the first place. If this was all setup only to conveniently get the couple together I was going to be seriously ticked off. But there were other reasons and for that Im grateful.

Mencheres has exposed himself to a human and he cant woo her into forgetting him with his otherworldly green glowing eyes because his magical blood is in her system. So he is forced into keeping her prisoner until the effects of his blood wear off. But damn if it isnt taking much longer than he figured and hes starting to develop feelings for her. Oh noes! He needs to get back to brooding and the girl has got to go!

Seriously, I liked Mencheres and I even liked Kira a lot too. They were much better sketched out than Spade and whatshername from the first book and their attraction was also better developed. Mencheres is a lovely I will protect you even if it means my demise type of guy. Im a sucker for those types. Hes also a little suicidal and though Im normally not ok with that type of behavior it works here. Hes freaking ancient, hes seen and done it all (even men note to author I would pay good money to read that book!), has lived through betrayal, lost his superpower visions, sees only darkness in his future and the poor man hasnt had sex in 900 years. 900 years, people! Would you still have the will to live? Kira gives him the will to live but he has a cloud of doom hanging over his head to make him gloriously angsty. Kira has a dying sister and a drug addled brother and her life, though much shorter than his, has been no bed of roses either. The two were well matched.

There were teensy glimpses of humor but I couldve used more. I have nothing really to say about the plot which is why I can only give this book 3 ½ stars. It wasnt anything special but it wasnt horribly tedious either. Ive read too many of these urban fantasies, I think. Theres a big bad, he does big bad things, he tries to hurt Kira, he pays for his transgressions and Kira and Mencheres live to spend another night filled with erotic bliss.

What a disappointment. ZZZZZZ. Eternal Kiss of Darkness was definitely better than First Drop of Crimson but not remotely on the same level as the Night Huntress books (Cat and Bones). Characters are not particularly individualized, they don't have their own "voice". You can hardly tell Mancheres from Spade from Vlad from Bones (who doesn't "sound" like himself in these books IMO).

I couldn't wait to read about Spade in First Drop of Crimson b/c I had liked him from the first introduction. I hated what was done in that book and I thought Denise was ruined. I wasn't as anxious to read about Mancheres but he is an interesting character and certainly an enigma I wanted to know more about. Unfortunately everything we learned about him seemed kind of...cheesy.

The romance has a little heat, I guess the sex scenes could titillate some people but can't compare to anything in One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress Book 2). Maybe if you don't read a lot of romance then it was romantic, but didn't do much for me. I just didn't care much about them as a couple. I liked Kira, she was much better than Denise and had some gumption. But she still sounded generic and nothing really made her stand out. I was bored and disappointed.

This book is hard to pass up if you need something to read while you wait for the next Cat & Bones book, but if this is your first Jeaniene Frost book, skip it.

Mencheres is HOT. Kira is just what he needs. I loved this book. Although reading about Bones and Cat is great fun, There is more depth to Mencheres and thousands of years to explore. I hope to read more of them since there is at least one dead Law Guardian needing to be replaced. I don't want to give away all but, holy moly, my favorite have been the ones Mencheres has had some part in. (a note to author, Vlad is another one I would love to read more in detail about. . . is that one in the works yet?)

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I enjoyed this one much better than First Drop of Crimson. I liked Kira, she's smart, resourceful, and speaks her mind. I enjoyed learning more about Mencheres. Overall, a good fit in this series. It was nice to read about other characters from the series (even though my favorites are still Cat and Bones).

Mencheres is Bones Grandsire and was once a Pharaoh. He has more powers than other Master vampires. He has become disenchanted and weary of life. He decides to end his existence using suicide by ghoul. Kira, a private investigator, passing by a deserted warehouse hears someone moaning and investigates. She finds a man chained injured and under attack. Kira helps him escape. Mencheres takes Kira to his home to attempt to erase her memories of him easily freeing himself, killing ghouls and giving her some of his blood to help her heal.
It was enjoyable to see the staid very proper almost boring vampire loose most of that aloofness. He shows that he is very caring and has been fighting for humanity for centuries. He finally became a man the reader could relate to and like.
Good read that shows more fully how many of the main characters and friends of Bones and Cat relate to each other.

This is the first Jeaniene Frost book I've read and I LOVED it!! I really enjoyed the characters, and I now have to go back and read all of Cat's books. The story was paced just right and I can't wait for the next book in the series.